Duo Hensoo Shite
by Saishi
Summary: Duo has a secret... one that is protected at all costs. WARNINGS: Angst, cliffhanger ending.
1. Beginning

Duo Hensoo Shite  
-------------------------  
  
  
"ITAI!!!"  
  
Heero was jolted from sleep by the shout and was immediately on his feet, cobalt eyes narrowed as he brought the pistol in a sweep around the room. The reliable weapon was always within reach, even in sleep... and he'd made Duo climb the walls more than once when the American pilot had thought he was sneaking into the room they shared. That was the source of the sound... Duo. The cry had come before Heero had even moved, which meant the cause was something other than him. A faint crimson glow came from the nightstand, the numbers revealing that it wasn't even 4am yet, and the darkened state of the room lent credence to that. A thin beam of light shone from underneath the adjoining bathroom, and the Japanese pilot edged towards it in perfect silence. Without a sound, the knob was turned and the door pushed open. The barrel of the gun was the first to enter the room, but a sharp creak from the door gave his motions away. That's all it took.   
  
Cursing to himself, Heero threw the door the rest of the way open, bringing the pistol to bear... in the same instant, he saw the shower curtain fluttering and what he thought was a pair of feet diving behind it.   
  
"DAMNIT, HEERO! Don't you ever KNOCK?" Duo screeched, peering around the side of the curtain, the violet eyes glaring to the door. Bedraggled strands of hair were visible from the side of the furious pilot, as well as a hairbrush that seemed to be the cause of the earlier commotion. It was thoroughly tangled in the boy's thigh-length hair, and it looked like it was going to stay that way for a while. Heero just shook his head, returning Duo's smoldering gaze before turning to leave. "Oh come off it, I'm having a bad hair day, alright? No, wait... you wouldn't know what that's like unless you wore your helmet too long." Duo had been around the silent one long enough to be able to read his actions instead of listening. Heero was going over in his mind exactly how easy it would be to stop these early morning wake up calls with a well aimed pair of scissors. The door shut once more, and he finally brought himself to step from around the curtain to dress.   
  
Heero stalked back to his bed, replacing the gun beneath the pillow and falling over to land amidst the blankets. That was the third time this week... Duo's bad hair days could easily be a bigger disaster than any OZ attack, if only for the fact that he'd have to listen to the whine for most of the morning. Not because of his hair, but because every time Heero got woken up, he did his surveillance, just to make sure everything was alright. The first time he'd burst in, he could have sworn he'd scared the other pilot witless. He'd fallen to the ground and covered himself with a towel that time. Snorting faintly, Heero closed his eyes and prepared to go back to sleep. He had yet to figure out why the outgoing and flirtatious Duo was so self conscious about being seen in any state of undress. Who knows... maybe after hanging out with five guys for so long, he was afraid the natives would get restless and jump him. Now while the reaction would be amusing, it would be a cold day in hell before that happened.   
  
* * *  
  
When Duo finally emerged, he was fully dressed as usual. He saw a faint movement from Heero's bed and raised his voice slightly. "It's just me. For God's sake, don't aim at me again, once a day is enough, thank you." There was no response, but he knew that the pistol was being slid back to its resting place once more. Damn, but that guy was jumpy ALL the time. Stopping in front of the mirror, he finished brushing the last of the snarls out of his hair, the waves falling over one shoulder. They stood out in stark contrast against the plain black priest's shirt and black pants, and Duo found himself smiling faintly at the effect. Just once, he'd have to leave it down for a while.. felt good for a change, instead of being pulled back like usual. As his fingers seperated the cascading mass into three parts, he winced slightly. It never failed. He was a Gundam pilot, had been trained for any situation and could fight OZ troops until there was nothing left... but ten minutes of braiding hair left his arms sore. When the band was tied securely around the end, he flipped the braid over his shoulder and left the room. As he rummaged through the kitchen for food, the sun was just starting to rise.  
  
He wasn't able to talk when Quatre went racing past, pulling a shirt on. Not even Duo could manage to speak with an apple clenched in his teeth. Dropping the bread and sandwich makings on the table, he yanked a bite out of the fruit before leaving it behind as well and taking off after the retreating blonde. "Quatre!" He yelled, not surprised when the Arab didn't even turn. As he burst out the back door, clearing the steps in one jump, Duo saw that he was headed for the thick trees in back of the safehouse, where they'd set the Gundams nearly two weeks earlier. "Hey, Quatre!! Mission?" Dumb question, really. A wave was his only answer, but he knew he was right, even as Quatre disappeared into the cockpit of his Gundam. The two weeks off had been nice, but it couldn't last forever. Duo thought for certain that Heero'd be the first one called back. Soldier-boy usually was. This time, however, it looked like Quatre was the 'lucky' one.   
  
"Tell the others I'll be back soon. This shouldn't take more than a few hours at the worst." The Arab called from above. Duo brought up one hand, waving in return and stepping back from Sandrock as the hatch closed and the mobile suit began to move away. Whatever it was, couldn't be too bad. Quatre always accounted for just about everything, so if he said a few hours, he'd likely be back by lunchtime. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Duo headed back for the safehouse, nodding to Rashid who had apparently followed them both. No surprise there, the man was never too far from Quatre so long as his feet were on the ground. There wasn't need for words, both men knew that there would likely be fewer Gundams hidden in the trees before the day was over. When it rained... it poured.  
  
* * *  
  
Sure enough, the day's peace didn't last long. It was almost noon and the four remaining pilots were each about their own business. Wufei was outside, wandering among the grounds and clearing his mind, or so he said. Heero was busy tapping away at the laptop which rested on the desk in the room he shared with Duo. Trowa was one step away from pacing on the porch, and Duo was just fluttering between the three, trying to get even one to smile and failing miserably. "God damnit." He muttered, kicking a stone across the grass. "Of all the people who had to get yanked away, it would be the one besides me that speaks." He was going over new ways to try and break through the individual shells of the others when a sharp beeping brought him to his senses. Without a second thought, he was tearing around the corner of the house, Trowa's sprinting form catching up to him as he dove from the porch. "You too??" Duo asked, glancing to the side to see the nod from the taller boy. This wasn't good.  
  
When they arrived at the Gundams, Wing was taking off and Wufei was just closing the hatch on Shenlong. This was REALLY not good. Scrambling up into the cockpit of Deathscythe, Duo flicked on the console as soon as he was seated. The information came flickering across his screen and he paled noticeably. Gundam Sandrock, shot down near the Indian ocean while stopping a convoy transporting mobile dolls to the outpost on Sri Lanka. Sandrock would have likely been trying to stop them before they reached the seaport and moved the suits onto the carriers. What the hell had gone wrong? There was no time to wonder... Heavyarms had already left the ground, and Deathscythe was ready to go as well. Within minutes, Rashid stood alone on the safehouse grounds once more, his eyes watching the fading forms. "Allah watch over you..."  
  
* * *  
  
Deathscythe had begun to outdistance Heavyarms and was rapidly gaining on Shenlong. Neither were created with flight in mind... neither was Deathscythe, but it was second only to Wing in aerial combat. They were nearly to the coast, and the last contact point of Sandrock. When the troops came into view, Duo found his eyes widening at the sheer numbers they had. Good God, with that many suits, the only question was how had Sandrock stood alone as long as it had. Wing was already engaging a small group of Aries suits above the battlefield, and Heavyarms was firing even as it approached. Shenlong and Deathscythe parted ways then, each moving to flank the group surrounding the downed Gundam. "Gundam 02, heading in. Let's get him out of there and go home!"  
  
"Duo! Behind you!"  
  
He heard Quatre's voice over the comm and immediately spun around. It was the only motion he could make before he found himself thrown back by the blast from the Mobile Doll that had come up.   
  
"They're swarming... I have no idea where they came from!" Trowa's voice crackled amidst the rain of gunfire he was levelling onto the field.   
  
"Doesn't matter... keep them off 05, he's the only one close enough!" Duo moved, bringing Deathscythe up to face down the one that had targeted him. "Come on, you son of a..." His vision rattled then as another volley of fire came from behind. They were surrounding him! "No way... not falling for that one. You want me, COME GET ME!" Leaping into the air, the Gundam headed over the water, sending a barrage of shots down towards the five Dolls that had been after him. They came into the air, followed by several more and set off after him. A quick glance told him that Heero was having just as much trouble... he was on his own for the time being.   
  
* * *  
  
Time seemed to pass at a crawl and a thin sheen of sweat covered Duo's skin. He was barely able to stay ahead of the dolls, the bruises from the beating he was taking were already starting to show, and he'd lost sight of the other Gundams some time ago. From the sound of the commlink they had, things were going well on land, at least. Heavyarms was almost out of ammunition, but they had Sandrock out of immediate danger and Wufei was keeping the field clear. There was no transmission from Heero, but that was normal. He couldn't see him in the skies, so he assumed that he'd joined the ground battle.  
  
Duo growled, whipping the Deathscythe around as another blast rattled him from behind. The thermal scythe slid through one of the dolls, only to have it replaced by two more. Where the hell were they coming from?? "Gundam 02, need assistance south of the waterfront..." He checked his calculations quickly, dodging another strike as the thermal blade decimated three more of his opponents. "2.4 miles south of starting location."   
  
"We're on our way."  
  
Duo started for a moment... was that? Did Heero actually SAY something? Oh man, this was worse than he thought. Bringing up his radar, he then saw why. He hadn't been able to see all of them... there had to be at least 30 dolls around him, maybe more. From the beating Deathscythe was taking, he knew he couldn't last much longer. This thought was confirmed in the next moment when the scythe was knocked from the hand of the Gundam to sink into the water below. As if that disarming spurred them forward, the dolls descended. Duo felt the Gundam being restrained, held immobile as one of the others started to pry open the hatch on Deathscythe. "Oh shit... they're trying to pull me out of here! Heero, stay back!"   
  
"Don't even think about it."   
  
Duo saw the doll that was in front of him go reeling back, the faint flash of color in the sky letting him know that Wing was approaching fast. Deathscythe's system was malfunctioning from the hits it had taken, and he felt himself starting to lose consciousness from his own wounds. Another blast sent him straining against the belts that held him in place and he felt his head crack against the seat behind him. His vision wavered for a moment, and the detonation switch in his hand fell to the floor of the cockpit. His own words sounded muddled to him as he responded to Heero. "They're yours, Heero... I can't..." All that was left was static on the line as Deathscythe's controls went dead with its pilot unconscious. The Gundam plummeted towards the water, sinking beneath the waves.   
  
* * *  
  
"Deathscythe is down." Heero's voice came over the link, his eyes narrowing as he blasted through the mobile dolls that were hovering near the area. A streak of flame shot past him and he knew that Wufei had followed him and joined in as well.   
  
"Heero, this is Quatre. Sandrock is functional, but I'm heading back to the safehouse. Trowa's on his way out to you two to help with the dolls and salvage."   
  
"Roger that."  
  
With the three Gundams working together, the dolls didn't stand a chance. Out of ammunition, Trowa took Heavyarms into the water, following the blip on his screen that let him know where the downed Gundam had landed. "I've got him..." Trowa sighed, narrowing his eyes. Small bubbles were rising from the Deathscythe, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the dolls had been able to pry open the cockpit a slight bit before Wing had arrived. "He's losing air in there. We've got to get him up."  
  
"I'm calling for help... we've got no choice."   
  
Trowa looked up towards the surface, as if that would allow him to see the one who had just spoken. "Quatre, you should be heading back. You're in no condition to be out here if they come back."  
  
"And any of us are? I'm calling Sally, she'll be able to help and keep it under wraps."  
  
Not hearing any objections from Heero or Wufei, Trowa himself just decided to get to work. Leaning down, he pulled the other Gundam up from the bottom, fixing a tie line to it just in case. "I'm bringing Deathscythe to the surface..." Hopefully it's not too late, he added within his thoughts. The weight of both Gundams suddenly got lighter, and Trowa looked out into the water. Wufei was there, bringing his own suit to take some of the dead weight between them. This way they could move faster. Heero was likely keeping the area clear above and watching out for more of the dolls. When they broke the surface, they were close to land, and saw Sandrock on shore, signalling to them.   
  
"Meet us at the safehouse. We're taking him there." Trowa's words were met by the sight of the Sandrock turning and taking off. Wing was right behind him, keeping watch on the damaged Gundam. Shenlong took one side of the Deathscythe while Heavyarms carried the other, and they both moved as quickly as they dared to get their injured companion to safety.  
  
* * *  
  
Sally Po brought up one hand, shielding against the sun as the first two Gundams landed. Rashid took off towards the Sandrock while Heero exited Wing and walked to where Sally stood.   
  
"How bad is it, Heero?" She asked, not quite certain if she wanted to hear the answer. If they'd called her and compromised one of their safehouses, then it was pretty serious indeed.   
  
"Not certain. Trowa and Wufei are bringing him in."   
  
So it was Duo then. The only real contact she'd had with the braided pilot had been when he broke Heero out of the medical facility where she'd been working. That was quite some time ago. Turning to the two medics who had accompanied her, she started shouting orders. "Get the stretcher out and be prepared to leave. If this is as bad as I think it is, we won't have much time to get him stabilized and get him to the hospital." The two scurried away, one getting the ambulance ready for immediate departure, the other preparing for the patient who had just come into view. Sally sucked in her breath, starting forward even before they'd touched down. Deathscythe was pretty beaten up, and if the Gundam was in that condition, she wasn't looking forward to seeing the pilot. Quatre had brushed off Rashid, telling him that he was fine, and the two were now racing towards her. Heavyarms and Shenlong lowered the crippled Gundam to the ground, laying it on its back to make it easier to access the hatch. Quatre scrambled up the side before it had even stopped moving and slammed his fist against the release on the outside of the hatch.   
  
It slid open, the cockpit still containing some of the water that it had acquired in the ocean, but Duo's face was above the surface of it. Bruises littered the pale skin, and his eyes were closed. It didn't take a doctor to realize that his breathing was extremely erratic, and Quatre turned to Sally, who had climbed up beside him. "We've got to get him out of there. Get your men over here."   
  
She simply nodded, motioning the two over as Quatre and Trowa jumped down into the cockpit and carefully released the clasps on the seatbelt the pilots wore. "Be careful," Trowa whispered. "He might be injured badly, but we have to move him at least far enough to get him out of here." Quatre nodded, slipping his hands beneath Duo's shoulders and waiting for Trowa's nod before they both gingerly lifted the unconscious pilot from his seat. Above them, standing outside the cockpit, were Heero and Wufei. The two of them reached down, taking Duo from the other two in one smooth motion, lifting him free without jarring him overly much. They laid him on the stretcher as Quatre and Trowa climbed out, looking on while Sally checked him over quickly.   
  
"I've got a pulse, but it's weak. Get him to the ambulance fast." The two medics did just that, with the help of the other four pilots they managed to get the stretcher to the ground and were racing towards the vehicle when Sally screamed for them to stop. "I've lost him..." She immediately pressed her hands against the slender pilot's chest, forcing his heart to pump blood while the two medics scrambled to the ambulance. One dove into the driver's seat, backing up the ambulance closer to where the stretcher lay. The other jumped from the back, carrying a box that trailed a wire into the back of the vehicle.   
  
Quatre had gone pale, his hands digging into Trowa's arm although he didn't notice and neither did the latin pilot. Trowa's emerald green eyes were locked onto Duo's still form, he didn't seem to notice anything else around him. Wufei and Heero were stoicly quiet, but even Heero's fists were clenched, the knuckles white as he watched.   
  
"Get the defib' charged, we don't have much time." Sally brought her hands away, catching the top of Duo's shirt and yanking it to the sides, sending the buttons skittering to the ground. The second shirt beneath was summarily opened, and she caught her breath, narrowing her eyes. The pilot had bandages wrapped tightly around his chest already! "What the hell... he went into battle wounded??" She didn't have time to see the questioning glances from the pilots, or hear Quatre's rebuttal that none of them had even seen action in two weeks. One of the medics handed her a pair of bent scissors and she quickly brought them through the material.  
  
Trowa started forward as he saw the scissors fall from Sally's hands. Her expression was one of pure unadulterated shock, but she recovered quickly, reaching for the paddles. When he got close enough to see around her, he stopped dead in his tracks, realizing what had caused her reaction. All color drained from his face, only to be replaced by the emotionless mask as he turned back to the other three pilots. They started forward, but he brought up his arms, keeping them back from the stretcher. "No... just let her work."  
  
Puzzled glances met his words, but he stood fast, his expression one that left no room for doubt that he would keep them back forceably if necessary. He saw Quatre wince as the jolt of electricity behind him forced the braided pilot's body into an arch before it fell back against the stretcher. Silence hung in the air as Sally tried one more, then again... finally her voice rang through the air. "I've got a pulse again, let's MOVE." A sheet was pulled up to Duo's shoulders as they moved the stretcher into the vehicle. Sally cast one last look at Trowa, raising her brows in concern, but he simply shook his head. With that, the doors closed and the ambulance pulled away quickly. Trowa turned back to the others, his face unreadable as his fellow pilots looked to him.  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
* * *  
  
TBC 


	2. Conclusion

Duo Hensoo Shite  
(Conclusion)  
-------------------------  
  
Sally watched the boys through the small window in the door. Every now and again, she'd see one of them come up and peer in at her and the figure which lay in the bed on the far side of the room. Her gaze turned back to that one then, and she walked over to check on her patient. God, there was no telling what was going through the minds of the others. They obviously hadn't known... otherwise Trowa wouldn't have gone through such pains to keep them back during that critical time. The Deathscythe pilot was stable at last, but it had been touch and go until just a few hours ago. No visitors were being allowed just yet, not until Duo regained consciousness. Once that happened, then they would see about visitors.  
  
Outside in the waiting room, Quatre paced back and forth, pausing at the door every third or fourth pass. He couldn't sit still, not now. Not while a friend was in danger. This wasn't like the normal danger though... they couldn't just sweep in and come to the rescue... not against injury like this. If it were any other enemy, it would have been annihilated, but how could you fight something like this?  
  
"Quatre, if you don't sit down, I'm going to tie you to the chair." Heero glanced up at him, the cobalt eyes shining from beneath the ridge of dark bangs. The Wing pilot didn't seem to care about the look of shock on the blonde's face... nor did he care about the narrow gaze from Trowa. "Pacing isn't going to help him. It's only going to get you worked up and it's going to make the rest of us want to strangle you." He forced back a faint smirk as the Arab pilot finally found a seat, and he went back to his own musings. At least out here, he was in control. What was going to happen later, though? Nothing had ever caught him offguard the way Trowa's little 'talk' had earlier.   
  
Trowa had been as pale as a ghost, but that was the only outward sign that there was something wrong. As he spoke, Heero had felt every part of him grow cold. How could they have been so deceived? Quatre was speechless, and Wufei was obviously going over everything in his mind to the point of repetition. But none of them had expected Trowa's words.  
  
"She's going to be fine."  
  
Duo had lied to them this entire time. No, Heero thought with a faint smile. Duo did many things, but lying wasn't one of them. He was pretty certain that if any of them had ever gotten the wild idea to just up and ask if he was a girl, the answer would have been 'yes'. The only problem with that logic was that one had to wonder exactly how drunk one of them would have had to have been to even THINK about asking that question. However, even though they'd been told about Duo's little 'secret', Heero couldn't bring himself to call the Deathscythe pilot anything except 'him'. Likely, it would just take time to get used to. But then again... if Duo had gone through all of this until now, letting everyone believe he was male... why would he even want anything to change at all?  
  
"Duo's awake... and asking for you all."  
  
Heero's thoughts were interrupted by Sally's voice, and he was on his feet before he even realized it. Quatre and Trowa were the first ones into the room, followed closely by Wufei. Heero stopped next to Sally, letting the door slip closed before turning to her. "Is he..."  
  
Sally just smiled, nodding her head softly. "Duo knows that the cat's out of the bag. I think that's why all of you were asked to go in."  
  
* * *  
  
"Ne, Quatre! Next time you decide to go off solo, tell the doctors to send backup in advance." Duo grinned from the bed, looking a bit paler than any of them would have liked. The worst part was that it made the bruises that littered the pilot's body all the more visible.   
  
Quatre just smiled, moving over and hugging Duo gently. "Thank you... I didn't get a chance to tell you that out there."  
  
"Don't worry about it, that's what we're here for, right?" Duo stiffened faintly, not quite comfortable with the contact, even though it was pretty obvious from the looks the other pilots were giving that Sally was right. They knew.  
  
Wufei was the first to speak up after that, and his blunt question seemed to break a lot of the tension in the room. "So just how long were you planning to keep this a secret, Duo?" Once the words were spoken, it was like the room took on a different feel to it completely. Quatre perched on the side of the bed, looking to Duo with concern while Trowa stepped a bit closer. Wufei was on the other side of the bed... but Duo tensed for a moment as realization hit. Heero wasn't here...  
  
"Where's..."  
  
"I'm right here, baka." Cobalt eyes met widened violet as the door closed behind the Wing pilot. "Now... I think you were about to answer Wufei, ne?"  
  
Duo smiled faintly, nodding. This would be much easier with all of them here. This way things wouldn't have to be repeated later. "Well... to be honest, I wasn't planning on saying anything at all. After the war's over, we're likely going to go our seperate ways, after all. Quatre's got his family, Wufei's got his colony. The chances of us sticking together are slim to none." Duo looked up with a smile then, catching all four gazes one after another. "If any of you had found out I was a girl, what would you have done on our missions? Would you have let me fight or would you have tried to protect me?"  
  
The silence was the only answer she needed. Slender hands gripped the edge of the bedsheet as Duo dropped her gaze. "Exactly. I'm still the same person I've always been, nothing has changed except your perceptions of me."  
  
None of them had an answer for that. Quatre looked away, his fingers toying with the edge of his shirt. Trowa kept his gaze passively neutral, but he was thinking heavily, that much was obvious. Wufei's eyes had dropped until he was staring at the floor near the bed... only Heero remained locked on the figure in the bed. "So now what will you do?"  
  
Duo looked up with a faint smile, a hint of the former wildcard of the Gundam pilots. "Same thing I've always done. We fight so others don't have to."  
  
Heero simply nodded, then turned and walked out the door. No anger was evident in his motions, and Duo wondered if maybe the Wing pilot had taken this bombshell a lot better than any of the others had.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo moved through the safehouse with a bit of spring in her step. It had been a very long while since she'd felt THIS at ease. Now that the other pilots knew, there wasn't really much point to keeping things hidden, and she'd actually taken to dressing more like a girl. Dresses and skirts were out of the question... no matter HOW things may have changed, she'd never been one for going quite that far. However... the tight denim shorts she wore and the green tanktop she'd rifled out of Heero's drawer had been more than enough to give Wufei a nosebleed the moment she'd walked out. This was proving to be fun!  
  
"Morning, Duo!" Quatre waved to her from the kitchen and she grinned, turning to head his direction. "How are you doing today?"  
  
"Alright, I suppose. Seen Wufei?" The combination of that particular question and the look of innocence that she was trying to put up alerted Quatre immediately to the fact that something was going on here...  
  
"Um... no. Don't tell me. You're the one behind the rash of nosebleeds he's had over the past couple days."  
  
One hand was brought to her chest in a display of mock indignation and Duo's violet eyes widened perceptibly. "Me? Oh Quatre, how could you think I'd do something like that?"  
  
The Arab just laughed, shaking his head faintly. "That's what I thought. Anyway, I don't know where he is. Might want to check near the Gundams, I know that's where Heero and Trowa are."  
  
"Great, thanks!" Duo reached around him then, grabbing an apple from the table and waving as she bounded out the door, the familiar long braid disappearing around the corner a few seconds later. Quatre just shook his head and went back to making lunch for the group of them. It had been three weeks since Duo was released from the hospital, and she seemed to have recovered nicely in that time. No missions had come in, and all of them were getting antsy, wondering when the next would come. Surely the doctors would have heard about the events of the last mission... wouldn't they?  
  
* * *  
  
"HEE~RO!"  
  
The Japanese pilot winced inwardly, his eyes narrowing as that familiar toned call came echoing across the clearing. They'd put the Gundams under the cover of trees, but the area around it was clear enough that they could get out in a hurry. He turned, half expecting to see long blonde hair flowing behind the running figure. His hand tightened around the wrench he held as it was revealed to be a long chestnut braid instead. "Duo... k'so."  
  
Duo just grinned, skidding to a stop next to him and offering one of the apples she'd filched. "Snack? Where's Wufei?" Her smile was infectious, and Heero had to stop himself from responding. It was then that he realized exactly what the other pilot was wearing, and he sighed faintly.  
  
"Why were you into my clothes again?" No wonder Wufei'd been hiding out in Nataku. This kept up and most of the blood in his body would have escaped through his nostrils by dusk.   
  
She just blinked innocently, bringing her arms out to her sides and twisting faintly so that she seemed to look over her own shoulder, inspecting herself. The tanktop had been tied just above her navel, and Heero couldn't quite help it as his eyes followed the curves of her body. No wonder she'd always kept covered up. Shaking himself out of THOSE thoughts, he barely caught the tail end of Duo's sentence. "...thought it would look nice. And besides, it's summertime and my clothes are black. It's hotter than hell in long sleeves and pants this time of year, you know."  
  
"You're going to ruin the shirt."  
  
Duo rolled her eyes, biting into one of the apples and tossing the other to him. She wasn't disappointed when he caught it neatly in one hand, his eyes still locked to hers. "Oh please. You wash it, it'll be good as new." She stopped then, bringing up one hand and picking at the collar of the shirt, lifting it to her nose. "You DO wash these things, right? You don't just buy them in bulk and throw them away when they're ready to walk to the washer on their own?"   
  
"Hn."  
  
She grinned as he turned and stalked back to the Gundams. Tag. Score: Duo 1, Heero 0. Her cheerful expression faded, however, when she saw his destination. It wasn't to his own Gundam that he was going, it was to hers! She saw Trowa's head peer out from the hatch and knew they were talking, but was too far away to hear. Didn't matter... she was too furious to think straight as she moved towards them. "And just WHAT the hell do you two think you're doing to Deathscythe?"  
  
Trowa glanced down, nodding to Duo. "The ECM system was damaged from the fight with the dolls, and there was some structural integrity questions raised because of the way the hatch was pried open. We're just running some diagnostics and structure scans."  
  
She fought to bite her tounge, instead crossing her arms and looking up at the unibanged one. "I ran the integrity tests yesterday. There's minor warping of the hatchway around the left side, it's going to need to be replaced fully to make it airtight again. The ECM system is fully functional, I put the finishing touches on it this morning before anyone was up, and the rest of the systems are up and running fine."  
  
He just nodded, glancing to Heero for a moment as if for back up. Heero just turned to Duo, his eyes impassive as always. "We were just making sure..."  
  
"Making sure of WHAT?" Duo was furious now, the violet eyes glinting dangerously in the sunlight. "You two have NEVER second guessed my repairs before, why would you start now?"  
  
"But--"  
  
"But, nothing."She slid her glare to the hatch, her voice dropping to a near growl. "Trowa, you have ten seconds to get your feet on the ground and out of my Gundam. As for you, Mr. Perfect Soldier... so help me if I find out this has ANYTHING to do with the fact that I'm not the 'flyboy' you thought I was, I'm going to strangle you with your own spandex while you sleep!" With that, she began climbing up to the hatch, passing Trowa as he was heading down. Duo didn't even spare him a glance, not wanting to make an already bad situation even worse.   
  
As Trowa moved to stand next to Heero, they both watched the Deathscythe take off, neither even bothering to sheild their eyes from the wind it kicked up. "Heero, I think she's pissed."  
  
"She can be pissed all she wants to be. Not my fault that the others never caught us doublechecking the Gundams til now." He bit into the apple he'd been given, then turned towards the Sandrock, grabbing the toolkit on the way.  
  
"Should we have told her? I mean, it's not like we singled her out... we just happened to be working on hers at the time."   
  
"Do you really think it would have made any difference?"  
  
* * *  
  
Duo just went... she didn't know where exactly it was that she was going, but it had to be better than down there. Anger still drove her, and her knuckles were white where they gripped the controls of Deathscythe. Who in the hell did they think they were? It was bad enough that Quatre treated her like some kind of china doll every time she set foot around him, but at least the others didn't seem to be acting too differently towards her. Now to find out that Heero and Trowa didn't even trust her judgement when it came to her own damned Gundam...   
  
A faint snarl formed on her lips as she brought up the scythe, letting it rip through nothing but air. This was frustrating, to the point of making her want to tear something apart... and she didn't even have a battle to concentrate on. It was hard to believe that of all the pilots, WUFEI was the only one who's opinion hadn't changed of her. Unless you took into account the fact that she now annoyed him even more. She couldn't help but smirk at that... just when Wu had thought things couldn't get any worse, his main antagonist turned out to be an onna.   
  
Duo was jarred from her reverie by a sharp beeping coming from the console in front of her. Blinking, she looked down, moving her fingers over the buttons to allow the message to come through. A mission? It had been a while, that was for certain. When she saw the instructions, and the destination, she sucked in a breath, her face going pale.   
  
* * *  
  
Heero stretched languidly, half closing his eyes as he walked back to the safehouse. He was starting to get a bit edgey, Duo hadn't been back yet and no word was received. It had been hours, and the sun had set long ago. It wasn't like the Deathscythe pilot to be gone this long when nothing was happening.  
  
"Heero!" Then again... maybe something had happened. He looked up to see Quatre bolting across the lawn, his face filled with concern. "Heero, something strange is happening with Duo."  
  
"What do you mean?" His brow furrowed faintly as he came to a stop, letting Quatre come to him.  
  
"There was noise coming from her room and I went in to check. It was her laptop, and the message was right there..."  
  
He couldn't stop himself. He reached forward, grabbing Quatre's shoulders and nearly shaking him. His voice was almost a growl as he fixed the blonde with a frigid cobalt stare. "What... message?"  
  
Quatre's eyes went wide and he caught himself stamering at first in an attempt to regain his wits. "It was from Doctor G. It wasn't a mission, it was an order. To return to L2 with Deathscythe immediately."   
  
If there was anything more to the message, Heero never heard it. Something told him that this was just not right... that he had to get there before Duo did. How long ago did Duo get the orders? Was she already halfway there? There was no telling... assignments didn't have timestamps on them and Duo had been out most of the day. K'so...   
  
Wing Gundam took off, leaving a cloud of dust and three anxious pilots in its wake. All Heero could do was pray that he could get to L2 faster than the shuttle Duo would have had to take.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo walked through the corridor, her heels clicking with a hollow sound against the metal. It had been a while since she'd been back here, and now it seemed that this was the one place she'd least like to be. The shuttle trip hadn't been very long, L2 wasn't that far from the side of earth that the safehouse had been on. Still, it was a heinous trip, having to be constantly on guard for OZ's troops. They'd just love to get their hands on a Gundam... and its pilot.  
  
As she stepped into the expanse of the bay where Deathscythe had been built, Duo found herself narrowing her eyes faintly to adjust. The light in here was dimmer than the hall had been... unusual, to say the least. A sudden shifting of air, the noise made by another person in motion made her spin around, looking vainly into the shadows. When the voice came, she couldn't even judge its direction.   
  
"From your attire, I can gather that my information was correct."  
  
Doctor G. Duo narrowed her eyes, one hand reaching towards the small of her back.   
  
"Don't even bother. Remove it and put it on the ground."  
  
Damn. Not having much of a choice, she pulled the pistol out from the waist of her shorts, holding it with two fingers by the barrel and letting it drop to the ground with a clatter. "I take it that this isn't the normal mission, is it?" Stall... think of something... anything.  
  
"You should know better than that." Footsteps approaching, but from where? She moved to turn but was stopped cold by his voice. "Don't move. Don't even turn around."  
  
"What kind of game is this, Doc?" She kept her arms out to her sides, the rogueish smile coming to her lips easily, even though her heart was hammering in her chest. "If this is about the damage to the Deathscythe on the last mission, I can expl--"  
  
"This isn't about the Deathscythe, this is about you. You knew the rules when you first started your training, did you not?" The footsteps had stopped, and Duo let her head bow forward faintly as a soft sigh escaped her lips. So this was what it all came down to. "I had made myself very clear before you ever left for earth. Are you going to forget those orders now, for the simple sake of convenience?"  
  
"No." The one rule that had been laid down at the beginning. Never show weakness in any form. A female in battle would be viewed as a target... a weak link in an otherwise stable chain. That was what she'd had drilled into her head from the moment she'd first laid eyes on the Gundam Deathscythe. All she could do was close her eyes as she heard the sharp click of a pistol being readied behind her and felt the cold barrel against the nape of her neck.  
  
"Mission... failed."  
  



End file.
